Pro-Free Speech Democrat Ostracized, Punished for Working with Republicans

Democrats who try to work across the aisle could face a bleak future - Rep. Daniel Riemer (D-Milwaukee) is living proof.

Rep. Jesse Kremer (R-Kewaskum) spoke with MacIver News to explain what happened. Kremer says he first asked Rep. Evan Goyke (D-Milwaukee) to work with him on the Campus Free Speech Act. Goyke suggested that free speech may be more up Riemer's alley since he graduated from the University of Chicago - the matriarch of free speech principles.

Some of Kremer's caucus members were hesitant at first, questioning Riemer's motives and wondering "what's he trying to pull?" Kremer insisted that his goal was to try to get the bill "to the point where both sides of the aisle could...agree on some things...and at the same time we're not compromising our bill, but that we think our entire caucus would vote for."

The morning of June 21st, the day of the bill's assembly vote, Riemer pulled Kremer out of caucus to bounce ideas around on how to improve the bill. Kremer commented that "some of his ideas weren't that bad, they actually made the bill better, strongerKremer quote rogue democrat amendment even." As they worked in the back of the parlor, Rep. Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) and Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison) were "hovering around, watching us, kind of like vultures...but [Riemer] kept working."

Things got dicey when Kremer went to the floor to introduce his new amendment to the bill, which revised the Council on Free Expression to give the Board of Regents oversight rather than directing them to create a separate committee. Kremer said that "Barca flew off the handle because he said we don't know anything about this... We said that we were working with someone on his side of the aisle that had an amendment that we thought we wanted to vote for. [The Democrats] said there is absolutely no way there's a rogue Democrat amendment that [they] are going to even consider and [they] don't want this being brought up."

When Barca called for informal session to review the new amendment, Kremer "heard Chris Taylor was just screaming at Rep. Riemer. [Democrats] were cursing him out on the floor when we had taken that break. They were all over hovering around his desk. After this all happened I looked over at him and he was sitting there with his head down for the next hour and I thought he had just given up and he was just beat back, but no. He came over to my side of the room...and he brings the amendment over to me, says I've been reviewing this...and it looks good to go." READ it HERE